Maricopa Adventure

Maricopa - a ghost town with real live residents located some 40 miles/64km from the Bakersfield center. You get to it by passing hills upon hills of oil wells, wheat and cotton fields and huge plantations of pistachios and oranges and more.

One lazy morning Noah got on his wobbly bike to take a look at this sleepy town, and chanced upon a nice story.

A sign at the threshold of the "city" declares

the number of residents who mainly work in the

oil fields and plantations surrounding the "city."

(Noah had to repeat the word because of its absurdity)

That is main street Maricopa touting shuttered

business establishments that knew better days.

the owners are now either in another town or

are ghosts like their "city." (there's the

word again.)

The only shop that throbs with activity in

 the whole of town - Tina's Diner. It is life

for the retired residents and workhands in the

neighboring fields.

The interior: paintings of the walls included a sea,

islands, coconut trees, a nice cone-shaped mountain

beside a thatched hut... guess. You're right -

Philippines!!

Fatima or Tina came to America 45 years ago as a busty sumthin year-old penpal bride. She left behind Liloan, Cebu and 11 siblings of "ASPO" parents (her own description). She wouldnt let Noah take her photo even if she was so elated and animated to have a certified "Bisdak" in the house.

She survived two deceased husbands and... "i'm working on the third one" was her matter-of-fact declaration.

She's owner, chef, waitress, dishwasher, etc and she was all over the place. She knew all her clients by name and she had a full house by the time noah left.

That's Noah's order upon Tina's insistence and

prodding. She said that he needed a lot of protein

since he was pedaling for 7 hours. Noah could

only hold his breath until she reappeared with a 

heaping platter...

...which had omelette of cheese, bacon, ham,

ground beef, pickles, onions, tomatoes plus 

everything under the sun plus rice, a slice

of cantelope, toast and strawberry jam

and bottomless coffee enough to feed an

island family of four.

After cleaning up his plate Noah reached for his money, but Tina wouldn't accept a single cent. She said that having a fellow Cebuano

around was very remote and the occasion called for free food. As Noah exited from the resto which was now filling up with lunch clients, she shouted above the din - "pagayo-ayo, amping sa imong byahe, salamat sa pagbisita!" (no doubt she was savoring the crispiness of her native dialect on her lips).

God bless you Tina and may your third husband treat you well.

On the way home Noah nursed a full and bulging 

tummy while passing this facility. Its presence

in the locality will attest to the remoteness

of Maricopa.

Cycling in sunny Florida

Florida is one state where cycling is given top priority. You will find bike trails that stretch for miles and miles and the city streets have well marked bike lanes. There is also less road congestion and traffic flow is relatively slower compared to California.

Even before Noah got to Florida, Howard D' Tiny already informed him that there were 4 bikes in his backyard shed. On inspection Noah noted them to be mountain bikes, which means that cycling on flat paved roads could be slower and more strenuous. A test ride was necessary to determine whether Noah would have to rent a road bike for his rides. 

Here are the stats for the test ride.

Noah found the full suspension GT bike tolerable due to the very little play in the shocks from disuse, so he decided that this would be the bike... at least he could save on 35$/day for the rental of a road bike.

The next ride netted 70km/43mi. It took him through the beautiful beaches of Madeira, Redington, Clearwater and Dunedin.

The third ride netted 72km/44mi. This ride started at Dunedin and ended at the Fort De Sotto beach at the mouth of the Tampa bay. Noah loaded the bike on Londong's pickup truck for the trip back home.

The fourth ride netted 53km/33mi. This ride went through route 580 to Tampa and back through the route 60 or the Campbell Courtney Causeway.

Thank you Howard D' Tiny and the state of Florida for giving Noah the chance to ride 200km/130mi and enjoy his short stay with you.

A fishy story

Noah's missus loves to fish. While he was busy looking after the animals she would sneak out to the bow of the ark with her fishing rod to hook some legal-sized deep sea dwelling critter.

One winter morning while Chicago was freezing cold, she was at sunny Clearwater Florida for a fishing adventure that was planned and paid for by Howard D' Tiny. Here are some photos of her escapade.

Before 8:00 Jo Ann of Ark is at the Clearwater

dock waiting for the call to board

 the "ark" is a double-hulled boat named

"double eagle II." 

the fishing expedition included Asset D' Cuddly,

Hardin D' Londong, Howard D' Tiny and Noah D'Shy guy.

Inside the ark while it speeds toward

some deep waters about 45 minutes from

Clearwater beach.

 the fishing commences with a 

show by some sleek dolphins.

The missus trying hard to successfully

reel in a heavy line...

...which turns out to be a grouper...

..."sorry" says Kevin D' deckhand, but

it's short of the required legal size...

...so Jo Ann of ark has one last pose

before mr. Lapulapu (filipino name for

the grouper species) is heaved back into

the sea...

 ...where some hungry pelicans make

lunch out of him.

this unlucky chap had no intention to bite

the bait, but stayed too near and got

hooked by the chin to the delight of 

Mrs. Noah. And like his predecessors of

smaller-than-legal-size he was thrown back

into the sea to tell his kin about a gorgeous

dame he saw on board the alien ship.

 in his mind Howard D' Tiny savors the tasty

meat of grilled trigger fish, but this was

not the right season for this species and

the lucky guy gets bailed out and back to

his mom in the depths.

These twins got hooked at the same

time and since they were legit size

they were held for eating. Sometimes

growing up too fast and too big has

its dangers.

 with the ice chest filling up and

the time running out, the captain calls

it a day...

...and heads back to shore while the 
fishermen brag about their catch.

Meanwhile, the most compelling part of the adventure gets underway - photo-ops.

 is she thinking about the Titanic in this pose?

 with her nephew Howard D' Tiny
on the sun deck

 a hug by Noah as they cross under
the Clearwater bridge

 a captain's pose

 with niece Asset D' Cuddly

 an exact example of "coffee n milk"

 Kevin D' Skinhead really loved this
noisy bunch of Filipinos. He got a
hefty tip for his efforts to please them.

 when you're in season and you're the
right size you end up...

 ...either fried or...

...in a soup dish with some horse raddish.

Noah's missus had a wonderful time that day and the memories she had will keep her till the next visit to this beautiful state of sunshine, oranges and beautiful and loving relatives.